One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned running this blog is the value of patience. And for a 19-year old, this hasn’t been an easy lesson to learn. I think it’s fairly common for people in their twenties to get impatient. If you set a target for 5 years, that means you’ll need to wait […]
How to Speed Up Highly Creative Tasks
Writing an essay, designing an interface or coming up with an elegant solution for a software problem isn’t easy to do. Highly creative tasks can sometimes require days of thinking before the lightbulb switches on. Before that inspiration, however, it is easy to procrastinate, distract yourself or stare at your computer screen for hours. I […]
Relax Without Feeling Lazy: Kill Open Loops
Stop working on open-ended tasks. These waste your time, cause procrastination and accomplish little. Open-ended tasks are any tasks that don’t have a clear end point. They are activities like “studying”, “working” or “putting on finishing touches”. They don’t have a stopping point where you can clearly say, “I’m done.” “I’ve got a big test […]
Productivity Tips from High-School Chemistry: Build a Motivation Catalyst
In chemistry, a catalyst is a chemical that speeds up a reaction but isn’t involved in the reaction itself. Iron rusts more quickly with saltwater, even though rusting results from just iron and oxygen. Catalysts lower the energy needed to trigger a reaction. Similarly, a motivation catalyst lowers the amount of energy you need to […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.